


what's a fancy party without a little waltzing?

by lady_mab



Series: RQG Femslash Week 2020 [4]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23248060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_mab/pseuds/lady_mab
Summary: Then the woman does an incredibly graceful twirl that looks more like a dueler disengaging than one of the dancers around the room. The woman smiles, and her painted ruby lips make her look far more dangerous than they have any right to. "It's just so incredibly pretty!"Azu moves to block her view and hopes that Grizzop is doing his job covering her blind spots as she fends off this overly curious guest.  "I understand, ma'am--""Call me Sasha, please." She reaches out again, but instead of for the diamond, lays her hand flirtatiously on Azu's forearm. "Can you tell me about it?"(RQG Femslash Week Day 4: AU)
Series: RQG Femslash Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672624
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19
Collections: RQG Femslash Week 2020





	what's a fancy party without a little waltzing?

**Author's Note:**

> AU in which Hamid and Sasha are high-end criminals who occasionally get hired by the Harlequins to infiltrate fancy places to get a lay of the land and an eye on any security measures. 
> 
> Bonus for the #aesthetic:  
> [Hamid's suit](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/753016000182835510/) (but of course in his customary colors)  
> [Sasha's dress](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/330944272618182071/)  
> [What I listened to while writing](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5AkqxAyV3mXw5YAF7m4FLn?si=GHjgb-p6T6ii1i1UKQdRfA)

Sasha lets out the breath between gritted teeth and a false smile. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this." 

Hamid's smile is, naturally, a lot more comfortable -- though Sasha is about 97% certain a part of the way his lips curl in amusement is at her expense. He pats her hand reassuringly, and she has to resist the urge to mess up his hair in retaliation. "A job is a job." 

"A job is a job," she mocks, which is hard to do while forcing a smile, but somehow she manages. 

Hamid hands their invitation to the herald and loops his arm through Sasha's as best he can. "Don't tell me you're nervous?" he asks, and that at least is an honest question of concern. 

"Of course not. A job is a job," she repeats. "I just… Forgot how much I hate these types of jobs." 

He gives her his best reassuring smile. "We're the best, and that's why we got sent. You were trained for this." 

It's probably not as reassuring as he means it to be, but she accepts the comfort. 

And then the doors swing open, and the herald steps forward to announce them to the crowds below.

"Introducing: Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tehan, on behalf of the Tehan family, and guest -- Sasha Rackett." 

The two of them bow at the top of the stairs, as the guests turn to stare at the fashionably late pair, and Sasha uses that brief moment to cast her gaze around the entire ballroom. She could steal virtually _anything_ in this room and she and Hamid could be on the next ship out of here if they really wanted to. 

Hell, one more job in a place like this and she could just _buy_ a ship and crew. 

But what they came for is on display in the center of the room. 

A Paladin stands on guard -- a tall Orcish woman in garishly pink armor. Shouldn't be a problem to take care of. There's supposed to be two guards, but Sasha can't spot the second by the time Hamid starts down the elaborate staircase. 

"I was just sort of wishing that like… Zolf's people could have been on guard duty instead, you know?" she murmurs as they hit the ballroom floor. She sends a silent but begrudging thanks to Eldarion when her ankle doesn't twist in the unfamiliar heels on the tiled floor. 

"We're here on a job _because_ of Zolf's people," Hamid returns wryly. 

"I meant the Poseidon lot." 

"I know, I know." He sighs, though the troubled expression doesn't last long as he greets someone across the way. "He's strictly part of the Harlequins now, though, not Poseidon." Hamid pulls her to a stop and grips both her hands. To anyone giving them a glance, it will look casual enough, and his expression remains light. 

But it is also Sasha's signal that it's time to start studying. 

"I see some investors that I need to speak to," he says, business mode firmly in place. "Will you be alright on your own?" 

"I'm sure I can find something to entertain me," Sasha replies with a wink, and she has to tamp down the grin as Hamid resists the urge to roll his eyes. 

He gives her an amused grin instead and a squeeze to her hands before peeling away to speak to the cluster of guests who called out to him. 

Sasha adjusts her skirts, feeling the secreted away hilts of her daggers. Then, smoothing down the waist of her dress to check the lock picks, she dons the bored expression that comes so naturally in parties such as these and sets off to wander 'aimlessly' through the crowds. 

* * *

Azu is… Well, she's not _bored_. That would be unprofessional. On edge, perhaps? Delighted, a bit. A strange cocktail of emotions. This is her first solo job, and she's practically vibrating with energy and wishing that there was something she could do to keep her from running through scenarios where Things Go Wrong. 

"Hey, focus up, Pink!" barks a reedy voice, and Azu winces. 

Alright, almost solo mission. 

Grizzop glares up at her, booted foot tapping impatiently against the floor. He looks ridiculously out of place, being a Goblin besides. For not the first time that evening, she wants to demand why he didn't at least wear something nicer to the party. 

Then again, the Church of Artemis always was a bit more on the earthy side. 

"My apologies," Azu says in return, straightening her posture on instinct, though it only earns a strained sigh from her partner. 

He looks at her, _really_ keeps looking at her, like he's trying to figure out a puzzle. But before she can find a polite way to ask if he shouldn't also _focus up_ , his head whips around and his eyes narrow. "I'm going back to my post," he declares. "Don't get distracted."

"I--" she starts, but then he's gone -- disappearing between the knees of everyone with far more grace than really necessary. 

A woman in a well-tailored black dress seems to melt from the crowd on the other side of the plinth, stepping over the unspoken boundary that most other guests had been maintaining (a boundary that's about as wide as Azu's armored shoulders are as she makes her laps). The woman even gets as far as a hand extended towards the diamond before Azu even _realizes_ what is happening. 

Azu's hand snaps out, and her gauntleted fist knocks the delicate fingers aside. "There is a strict no-touching rule on the display, ma'am." 

"Oh, I apologize, I hadn't realized--" the woman coos, her accent extremely Posh and British, and her eyes are wide and innocent. But there's something in her gaze that puts Azu immediately on edge, though she does her best to remain casual and professional.

"Of course. Now, if you would please…" She tries to urge the woman back, and for a moment she thinks she succeeds. 

Then the woman does an incredibly graceful twirl that looks more like a dueler disengaging than one of the dancers around the room. The woman smiles, and her painted ruby lips make her look far more dangerous than they have any right to. "It's just so incredibly pretty!" 

Azu moves to block her view and hopes that Grizzop is doing his job covering her blind spots as she fends off this overly curious guest. "I understand, ma'am--" 

"Call me Sasha, _please_." She reaches out again, but instead of for the diamond, lays her hand flirtatiously on Azu's forearm. "Can you tell me about it?" 

If this is supposed to be a distraction for an actual thief, then she's being incredibly obvious about it. "There is a display in one of the antechambers with more information on its discovery--"

The woman -- Sasha -- presses her lips into a dainty moue. "I was hoping for something a little more personal…" 

Azu, despite herself, blushes. "Miss Sasha, I'm sure you understand that--…" Her brain fails to come up with something suitably professional, so she ends it with, "No, I can't." 

Sasha takes a breath, clearly prepared to lay on another layer of coy flirtation, so Azu cuts her off by holding up a hand and saying, "If you continue this line of pursuit, ma'am, I will be forced to have you escorted from the property."

This catches Sasha off-guard, and the image of the young society woman is superimposed with that calculating gaze once more. 

Then she steps back, a smile in place that could match any of the women spinning around the room in their finery. Sasha wears no jewelry, and wears the only black dress -- which offsets the paleness of her skin. For one dizzying second, Azu thinks of a fairytale, and wonders if this stranger standing before her is supposed to be the evil witch or the princess. 

And then Sasha bows, smooth and perfect. "I'm sorry to have troubled you!" she says in that very Posh and very British accent before turning to smile at someone in the crowd and melding back in between the bodies. 

Azu stands there for several long seconds and tries to figure out what just happened. 

A canapé strikes her in the side of her head, and she frowns down at the offending item of food before trying, uselessly, to find Grizzop -- who undoubtedly was the one who threw it at her. Hopefully he'll wait until after the party to scold her, so she instead channels the flustered energy into frustration and resumes her perimeter of the plinth. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hamid jumps onto the bar stool alongside her, patting her lightly on the shoulder as he does so. "So? Appraisal successful?" 
> 
> "It's not the real thing," Sasha confirms, her tone casual, if not a little resigned. "It's somewhere else in the manor." 
> 
> "I was getting a heavy magical aura from the plinth, but with everyone enchanted up to their eyeballs it was hard to pick out exactly it was. Transmutation, definitely, but my original thought was just disguising the traps." Hamid gestures to the bartender and orders a drink with the ease of a man who knows exactly what to do in these situations. He glances at Sasha from the corner of his eye, noticing that there's nothing in front of her. "Not even a wine?" 
> 
> She makes a face, and for a moment, there's just the girl who was dropped on the doorstep of the finishing school with a thick Cockney accent and a permanent scowl. "There were too many choices, and half of them were Italian." 
> 
> Hamid bumps his shoulder against hers and orders a drink for her as well. "We'll just do another few laps and see if there's anything else we can pick up. Would you care for a dance after our drinks?" 
> 
> "Of course, what's a fancy party without a little waltzing?" Sasha reaches up and fishes out a gold chain from beneath the high collar of her dress. Her expression shifts to something along the lines of _the cat that ate the canary_. "But I might have a date later tonight, do don't wait up." 
> 
> Hamid's eyes go wide as he spots the golden heart dangling from the chain. He looks behind them, at the Paladin of Aphrodite standing guard at the plinth. "Sasha, you _didn't_..." 
> 
> "Old habits!" she protests, though nothing about her tone indicates she's even remotely sorry. "She made it so easy to nick!" 
> 
> He laughs despite himself and shakes his head. Then he takes his drink and holds it up to her. "Here's to a little fun." 
> 
> Sasha accepts the glass of sparkling wine from the bartender and clinks it against Hamid's. "I'll drink to that."


End file.
